Wednesday, March 28, 2012

South Korea Mission Strategically Important, Officials Say


By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2012 – U.S. forces in South Korea help to sustain an important alliance, deter an unpredictable threat and support the national defense strategy’s shift toward the Asia-Pacific region, senior defense officials told Congress today.

Peter Lavoy, acting assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, testified along with Army Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, before the House Armed Services Committee in a hearing examining the security situation on the Korean peninsula.

“For over 60 years, the United States has maintained a presence on the Korean peninsula to deter aggression against … [South Korea] and to fight and win, should deterrence fail,” Lavoy said.

The U.S.-South Korean alliance continues to be a cornerstone of U.S. regional strategy, and department and military leaders will continue to strengthen that alliance, make U.S. forces there more efficient and effective, and enhance presence, power projection and deterrence in the region, he added.

Lavoy said North Korea's “provocative behavior” continues to present a serious threat to the United States, its allies, and the region. He noted that North Korea has a large conventional military and is pursuing ballistic missile and weapons-of-mass-destruction programs, including uranium enrichment.

In response to that threat, he said, the U.S. and South Korean governments and militaries are working to strengthen strategic capabilities, further integrate operations and work from an alliance perspective to meet current and emerging threats.

The two countries have a comprehensive plan under the Strategic Alliance 2015 framework to transition wartime operational control from the U.S.-South Korean combined forces command to the South Korean joint chiefs of staff by December 2015, Lavoy told the panel. The transition will allow South Korea to lead its national defense while maintaining an enduring U.S. defense commitment and capability, he said.

In line with the strategic agreement, U.S. forces will consolidate and relocate from the metropolitan area of the South Korean capital of Seoul to centralized locations south of the city, he said. The move will improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance force protection by placing most service members and equipment outside the effective range of North Korean artillery, Lavoy told the committee.

Thurman said the U.S.-South Korean relationship is “the finest military partnership I have experienced in my 37-year career.”

As the democratic, wealthier southern neighbor of a closed-off North Korea, Thurman said, South Korea faces the threat of attack or provocation that can come with little or no warning.

“Our deterrent capability is based on U.S. and [South Korean] military readiness, and this is my primary focus,” the general said. “I have conducted a thorough review, including two combined exercises, and I have determined our forces remain ready to defend the … Korean peninsula.”

Both militaries are well-equipped, well-trained and professional, Thurman said, while the alliance is strong and the U.S. presence provides a stabilizing influence in the region.

“I think just by having a forward presence, that is a calming effect,” he added.

His forces train to respond to chemical and biological as well as conventional weapons attacks, Thurman said, and work hand in hand with South Korean forces on cyber defense.

“I have come to realize that cyber is a key warfighting domain,” he said. “It is [as] important as our air, maritime and ground operations.”

Thurman said he would welcome productive talks between the United States and North Korea, “but my sense is the [approach they have] taken with their military-first policy is not going to change.”

Thurman said his force numbers and equipment are able to meet the mission, but he acknowledged he’d like to see some adjustments. While he has enough troops, the standard one-year tour junior service members serve in South Korea creates a “churn” of 600 to 700 men and women arriving or leaving each month, he said.

“So I have asked [Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Army chief of staff] and the Army to look at how we can build readiness at best value, and see what we can do,” he said. “And I'm very mindful of the cost, and I don't want to create a requirement that is not operationally focused.”

The general said he’d also like to increase his air capabilities.

“We do not have a full combat aviation brigade there,” Thurman noted. “I have asked the department as well as the Department of the Army and back through [U.S. Pacific Command] and the Joint Staff to look at adding that battalion back that was repositioned out of there to meet requirements for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Thurman emphasized his forces feel a sense of satisfaction in their mission.

“I think what makes Korea unique is we have a threat to the north. We have a well-stated mission. And I have not seen a decline [in] any morale issues,” he said. “This requires active leaders, leaders that are sensitive to the needs of their service members. And that's where I put my effort in making sure that, if there [are] any quality-of-life issues, then we quickly try to resolve that.”

Naval Station Mayport Holds Motorcycle Safety Symposium


By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Salt Cebe, Navy Public Affairs Support Element Detachment Southeast

MAYPORT, Fla. (NNS) -- Naval Station Mayport held a motorcycle safety symposium to discuss how the motorcycle safety program is helpful to military personnel and how it could be improved March 27.

Service members offered their personal riding experiences, discussed what they had learned since taking the motorcycle safety courses and reiterated how the courses had helped them stay safe while riding their motorcycles on and off naval installations.

"We need to get the message out and unfortunately a lot of times we see individuals who say they can get by without personal protective equipment," said Commander, Naval Safety Center Rear Adm. Brian Prindle.

Several Sailors spoke about their own personal moments of clarity, when they realized just how important motorcycle safety really was.

"I've been riding for some time now. I can honestly say that if it wasn't for the training I received through the motorcycle safety center I probably wouldn't be here," said Electronic's Technician 1st Class John Broughton.

Broughton continued to speak about the importance of what he learned during the Basic Riders Course (BRC).

"For me it started five years ago during my BRC. In that class they tell you if you lay down your bike, you panic. I didn't know what I would do if that happened. A truck that wasn't paying much attention sped right through one of the many four-way intersections and didn't even look in my direction," explained Broughton. "At that moment, as the truck came at me, I remembered that phrase. It actually saved me. I was able to lean as hard as I could and cut around the truck. It saved my life."

Prindle said that motorcycle safety training has become more intensive and therefore has also become more successful in helping to prevent mishaps. The overall goal is to make sure all military personnel who ride motorcycles are as prepared as possible when they hit the road.

"What we want to do is tell our Sailors and Marines that we're going to support them and their right to ride a motorcycle," stated Prindle. "We want to give them the proper training so that they're prepared, safe and successful if and when they do decide to ride a motorcycle.

Panetta, Peru’s Defense Minister Discuss Defense Cooperation


By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2012 – Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta welcomed Peruvian Defense Minister Luis Alberto Otárola Penaranda to the Pentagon today to discuss transnational organized crime, terrorism and a defense cooperation agreement.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. John Kirby said the secretary also commended Peru for its contributions to the United Nations stabilization mission in Haiti and congratulated Penaranda for the recent capture of the Shining Path terrorist group leader known as Artemio.

“Both leaders pledged to continue to deepen defense cooperation, and look forward to advancing those goals at the upcoming Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas in October,” Kirby said.

Created in 1995, the conference provides Western Hemisphere defense leaders with a venue to discuss topics of mutual concern, such as security-building measures, peace-support operations, civil-military relations and emerging threats.

Police and Public Safety Complex Trauma

The April 4, 2012, episode of American Heroes Radio features a conversation with Dr. Daniel C.  Rudofossi the author of Police and Public Safety Complex Trauma.

Program Date: April 4, 2012
Program Time: 1500 hours, PACIFIC
Topic: Police and Public Safety Complex Trauma
Listen Live:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lawenforcement/2012/04/04/police-and-public-safety-complex-trauma

About the Guest
Dr. Daniel C.  Rudofossi (NYPD) “is the real deal: street cop, sergeant, and commanding officer who patrolled urban war zones and effected over 200 arrests without a complaint when New York was known as the murder capital of the United States. That experience and credibility helped him, as Uniform Psychologist/Police Sergeant, NYPD, in relating to police officers and in working through assessment, crisis, and therapy with hundreds of officers. What he offers in this book is the combined result of more than a decade of experience, from street cop to licensed psychologist who conducted extensive clinical treatment and research. Dr. Rudofossi is certified in the following psychotherapies: Fellow in Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, Albert Ellis Institute (formally, Institute of Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy); Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, New York Psychoanalytic Institute and Society; and Clinician Diplomate in Logotherapy, The Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy.

Dr. Daniel C.  Rudofossi is Adjunct Associate Professor at New York University and Clinical Supervisor at Yeshiva University Albert Einstein School of Medicine. He continues in his private practice to work with traumatized police officers and is on the Board of Advisors, Saybrook University Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program in Police and Public Safety. He is a recent appointee as Police Cop Doc to the New York and New Jersey Crime Clinic Detectives Association, and his recent appointment as Administrative Clinical Psychologist for the HHSG includes supervising and monitoring the US DOJ DEA EAP Nationwide.” Dr. Daniel C.  Rudofossi is the author of Working With Traumatized Police-officer Patients: A Clinician’s Guide to Complex PTSD Syndromes in Public Safety Professionals and A Cop Doc's Guide to Public Safety Complex Trauma Syndrome: Using Five Police Personality Styles.

According to the book description of A Cop Doc's Guide to Public Safety Complex Trauma Syndrome: Using Five Police Personality Styles it “is written in response to the need for an advanced, specialized guide for clinicians to operationally define, understand, and responsibly treat complex post-traumatic stress and grief syndromes in the context of the unique varieties of police personality styles. The book continues where Rudofossi's first book, Working with Traumatized Police Officer Patients left off. Theory is wed to practice and practice to effective interventions with police officer-patients. The 'how' and 'why' of a clinician's approach is made highly effective by understanding the distinct personality styles of officer-patients. Rudofossi's theoretical approach segues into difficult examples that highlight each officer-patient's eco-ethological field experience of loss in trauma, with a focus on enhancing resilience and motivation to - otherwise left disenfranchised. Thus, this original work expands the ecological-ethological existential analysis of complex PTSD into the context of personality styles, with an emphasis on resilience - without ignoring the pathological aspects of loss that often envelop officer-patient trauma syndromes.

About the Watering Hole
The Watering Hole is police slang for a location cops go off-duty to blow off steam and talk about work and life.  Sometimes funny; sometimes serious; but, always interesting.

About the Host
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster was a sworn member of the Los Angeles Police Department for 24 years.  He retired in 2003 at the rank of Lieutenant.  He holds a bachelor’s from the Union Institute and University in Criminal Justice Management and a Master’s Degree in Public Financial Management from California State University, Fullerton; and, has completed his doctoral course work. Raymond E. Foster has been a part-time lecturer at California State University, Fullerton and Fresno; and is currently a Criminal Justice Department chair, faculty advisor and lecturer with the Union Institute and University.  He has experience teaching upper division courses in law enforcement, public policy, law enforcement technology and leadership.  Raymond is an experienced author who has published numerous articles in a wide range of venues including magazines such as Government Technology, Mobile Government, Airborne Law Enforcement Magazine, and Police One.  He has appeared on the History Channel and radio programs in the United States and Europe as subject matter expert in technological applications in law enforcement.

Listen from the Archive:
http://www.hitechcj.com/americanheroesradio/public_safety_complex_trauma.html

Program Contact Information
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.), MPA
editor@police-writers.com
909.599.7530

Facebook Event:
http://www.facebook.com/events/178803908905559

LinkedIn Event:
http://linkd.in/H2kVKd

Officials Suspend North Korea Nutrition Aid Over Planned Launch


By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2012 – Concerns that North Korea would resume provocative behavior on the international stage in 2012 have proven true, so the United States has suspended plans to provide nutrition aid to the impoverished nation, senior defense officials told Congress today.

“Our suspicions … were confirmed when North Korea announced on March 16 that it plans to conduct a missile launch between April 12th and 16,” Peter R. Lavoy, acting assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, told members of the House Armed Services Committee. “This grand launch is highly provocative, because it manifests North Korea's desire to test and expand its long-range missile capability.”

Army Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, testified alongside Lavoy in a hearing examining the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.

After a series of U.S.-North Korean discussions in late February, the North Korean government agreed to implement a moratorium on long-range missile launches -- then announced plans for the launch just two weeks later, Lavoy explained.

The United States had agreed during the February talks to provide nutritional aid to North Korea. The World Food Program in November 2011 recommended targeted high-nutrition aid as critical to 3 million North Koreans most at risk for starvation.

Lavoy and Thurman both confirmed the United States will not deliver the planned nutrition aid.

“During those discussions, the United States made it very clear that a satellite launch would be a deal-breaker,” Lavoy told the panel.

Both men said U.S. officials have worked to “delink” humanitarian aid and political concerns, but defended the decision to suspend nutritional aid.

“The fact that North Korea so brazenly violated commitments that it just so recently agreed to … indicates that they're not reliable,” Lavoy said. “We cannot expect them to meet … the commitments that they've agreed to that are associated with the provision of nutritional assistance to the needy population in their country.

“It's regrettable that the food aid is not moving forward,” he added. “The North Korean population really needs nutritional assistance. And we're prepared to provide that to North Korea.”

Thurman said officials are working closely with allies and other partners in the region to try to discourage North Korea from launching the missile. Meanwhile, the general added, “we have been forced to suspend our activities to provide nutritional assistance to North Korea.”

Lavoy said the threatened launch would be in direct violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions 1718 and 1874, which prohibit North Korea from conducting any launches that use ballistic missile technology.

The launch would involve a North Korean-made Kwangmyongsong-3 polar-orbiting Earth observation satellite to mark the 100th birthday of late President Kim Il Sung, a spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology said in a statement.

The late president’s birthday is April 15.

Lavoy said North Korea’s authoritarian government, founded by Kim Il Sung and subsequently led by Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un -- his son and grandson, respectively -- seeks to provoke other nations militarily as a means of demonstrating power to its people.

“Political successions are extraordinarily difficult when you don't have a representative government, which is the case there, of course,” he noted. Kim Jong Un took power after his father’s death in December.

“What we're seeing now and what we anticipate is provocative behavior, because, unfortunately, this seems to be the only way that the North Korean regime can try to demonstrate its bona fides to a population that is suffering terribly,” Lavoy added.

Thurman said North Korea’s “military first” policy diverts national resources away from food and essential services to the people.

“They maintain the fourth-largest conventional military force in the world, the world's largest special operating force, and significant long-range artillery capabilities,” the general said. “Over 70 percent of their combat powers are arrayed within 90 miles of the demilitarized zone.”

South Korea, home to some 28,500 forward-based U.S. troops, is “a vibrant democracy, economic success and global security partner, currently serving beside us in Afghanistan and off the Horn of Africa,” Thurman said.

“In stark contrast, one of the world's poorest, most closed and
most militarized countries, North Korea, lies less than 20 miles from the northern districts of Seoul, a city of over 24 million people,” he added.

The United States and South Korea have for 60 years maintained a close partnership aimed at deterring North Korean aggression and maintaining stability on the peninsula, Thurman noted.

“We are prepared to defend the peninsula and can do that,” the general said. “And we can repel any type of attack should the North Koreans decide to do that.”